Alarm apparatus for automatic fire-extinguishers



(No Model.)

0. O. WORTHINGTON.

ALARM APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHERS.

Patented Oct. 7, 1884.

N. PETERS. Hmnmmo hw. Washington. 046.

NITED STATES ATENT rrrca.

CHARLES C. \VORTHINGTON, OF IRVINGTON, NEXV YORK.

ALARM APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHER'S.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 306,201, dated October7, 1884. Application filed March 25, 1884. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. \Von'rn- INGTON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city of Irvington, county of VVesttinguishers orsprinklers -that is to say, that class or" devices which are soconstructed and arranged that the heat occasioned by the breaking out ofa fire in their vicinity will operate to release a valve or othersimilar device controlling a watersupply, and permit the water to beejected inv the form of a shower over a considerable area surroundingthe sprinkler, and thus extinguish any fire which may be within therange of such shower. These devices, although differing greatly in formand construction, have all or nearly all consisted, essentially,of anozzle which is connected to a water-supply pipe, and closed by a valveor other similar device which is held in place either directly orthrough suitable connections by an alloy which is fusible at acomparatively low temperature, so that whenever a fire was lighted inthe vicinity of one of these sprinklers, so as to raise the temperatureof the surrounding air above the 1nelting point of the alloy the valvewould be released, so as to permit the water to flow, as just stated.These devices have proved very successful in practice for the purposeintended, and have gone into extensive use in those places where littleor no damage would result from the discharge of water; but a veryserious objection exists to their use in dry-goods stores and other likeplaces, wheregreat damageis sure to result from any unnecessary use ofwater in this manner: first,because, owing to the necessarily frailnature of the means by which the valve or other device which confinesthe water in the sprinkler is held in place, it isliable to becomedislocated, so as to cause the water to fiow when no fire exists;second, because when the sprinkler is once set in operation itwillcontinue to operate until the water is shut off from the supply-pipe,which, if no alarm is given, may, and in most instances will, be longafter the fire is extinguished, and this continued flow of water in suchplaces would be sure to cause very great damage.

It is the object of the present invention to obviate this difficulty,and to provide devices of this class with an automatic alarm mechanismby which notice of any escape of water from the sprinkler, occasionedeither by the melting of the alloy, as in case ofa fire, or by reason ofthe accidental displacement of the valve, will be instantlycommunicatedto the watch man or other person having charge of the building in which the sprinkler is located, or to the fire department, or toany other point where it may be desired, so that measures may be at oncetaken to shut off the water from the supply-pipe, and thus preventdamage to the contents of the room or building, or to the buildingitself in which the sprinkler is located.

To this end the invention consists, broadly, in providingfire=extinguishers or sprinklers of this class with electricalcircuit-connections having circuitclosing mechanism which is soconstructed and arranged that the moving force of the water set inmotion by the release of the valve or other device which confines thewater in the sprinkler will operate said circuit-closing mechanism, soas to make operative the electrical circuit, and, through a suitablealarm mechanism, give notice of the fact at any desired point.

The invention also embraces various details of construction andcombinations of parts in an apparatus of this character, all of whichwill now be fully explained, and particularly pointed out in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation ofa sprinkler provided with means of the character just stated foroperating an alarm mechanism, the parts being shown in the positionwhich they will occupy when the sprinkler is in operation. Fig. 2 is asimilar view showing means of a different form for operating the alarmmechanism, the parts being shown in their normal position. Fig. 3 is ahorizontal sction taken upon the line 00 w of Fig. 2.

As before stated, these sprinklers differ ICO greatly both in term andconstruction; but the present invention, as will. hereinafter appear, isequally applicable to any of these forms, one of the most common ofwhich hasbeeu selected for illustrating the principle and application ofthe invention. This sprinkler consists, essentially, of a nozzle, 10,which is at tachcd in any convenient manner to awatersupply pipe, 23,and is provided with a downwardly-extending yoke, 12, within which isplaced a plate, 5). which is provided upon its opposite sides withrecesses in which lie the arms of the yoke, the recesses being of suchsize that the plate can move .l'reely up and down between the arms oftheyoke. The cen ter 01' the plate 0 is provided with a suitable packingforming a valve, which, when the plate is in its raised position, as'shown in Fig. 2, is pressed against the nozzle 10, so as to close ittightly and prevent the escape of the water. The valveplate l) is alsoprovided upon its edges with an upwardly-extending tlange in which aretermed a series of vertical slots, 6, which act, when the valve isunseatcd, as shown in Fig. 1, to divide the water issuing from thenozzle into a large number of small streams, and cause it to tall in theform of a shower around the sprinkler. The valve-plate i) is held inposition 'to close the nozzle by means oia crossbar, 13, one end ofwhiehrests upon a lag or projection, 5, formed upon one side or arm of theyoke 12, while .its opposite end is slotted, so as to embrace a similarlug, 4-, formed upon the opposite arm of the yoke, the free end of thebar 13 being supported by a curved lever, Iii, the upper end 01' whichrests in a notch, 2, formed in the yoke, while its opposite end issecured to the bottom of theyoke by means of :l'usible alloy 15.

For a more complete and detailed dcseription and illustration of theconstruction of this sprinkler, reference is made to my com panionapplication executed 01: even date herewith. The wires 13), which forman electrical circuit which is provided with suitable battery-power, andin which is located, at any point where it is desired to give notice ofthe i'act that water is iiowing from the sprinkler.

any suitable form of alarm mechanism, are connected to the sprinklers bymeans of a plug, 16, of insulating material, which holds the wiresinsulated .l'rom each other and from the sprinkler.

In order to provide a suitable circuit-closing mechanism by which thecircuit thus formed can be closed, so as to give notice oi" the escapeoi" water from the sprinklers, there is provided a lever, 21, which ispivoted in any convenient manner at one side of the sprinkler, and theupper arm of which. forms a coi1tact-plate,which ,when the lever isrocked to the position shown in Fig. 1, will connect the wires 18 19 andthus close the circuit through the alarm mechanism. This lever isprovided with a suitable balancing-weight, 27, as indicated by dottedlines, or with a light spring, 22, by which the lever normally held. insuch position that the circuit through the wires 18 19 is broken. Thelower end of this lever is provided with a broad surface, 17, which. islocated in such position that the water issuing i'romthe sprin klcr whenthe valve becomes uuseated will im' pingc against said surface and rockthe lever to the position shown in Fig. 1, so as to make operative thecircuit through the alarm mechanism.

The operation 01' the apparatus when thus constructed is as follows: Solong as the valve of the sprinkler remains in its normal position thespring 22 or the weight 2? will coir tinue to hold the lever 21 awayfrom the wires 18 ll), so as to keep the circuit thrmigh the alarmmechanism open, and, conseipiently, no alarm will. be given. As soon,however, as the valve becomes displaced, either by the n'ielting of thealloy which. holds the lever 14-, as in case of iirc, or by the breakingof said alloy, either by an accidental blow or by andue pressure of thewater in the supply'pi ie, the water issuing from the nozzle willimpinge against the broad surface 17 ot' the lever, and thus rock it tothe position shown in Fig. .l, was to close the circuit through thewires 18 19 and give the alarm, therebyallowing the person in charge ofthe building to shut oil such water as would. occasion IHHKOOSSZH)damage.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2 the circuit-closing am'iaratus,instead of being opcrated by the moving force of the water issuing fromthe sprinkler, is arranged to be operated by the moving force of thewater in the supply-pipe, which water will. be set .in motion wheneverthe valve confining it therein is released. To etl'ect this the pipe 2-;is provided I at some convenient point with. a gate, 25, which partiallyor wholly closes the pipe, shown in lrig. L3, and is secured to arock-shalt, lo, the end of which projects mitward through the pipe, andis provided with a rock arm orlever, 21., the end oi which forms acontact-plate, which, when the gate 25 is rocked by the move ment of thewater in the pipe, will be cz'irried into position to connect the wires18 19 and close the circuit through the alarm mechanism, as shown l ydotted lines in Fig. 2. The insulating material by which the wires 1s1].!) are connected with the sprinkhn is in this case supported upon abracket, 15, secured to the side of the pipe 23.

The operation of the apparatus when thus constructed is exactly the samein efi'eci as that already described in. connection with Fig. 11, solong as the valve remains closed so as to prevent the escape ot'thcwater from the sprinkler. The gate 25 will be be] d in a horizontalposit-ion by the weight of the lever 21. As

soon, however, as water commences to issue from the sprinkler in anyconsiderable qnantity, the movement of the water in the pipe 2-3 willcarry the gate 25 downward, thereby rocking the lever upward, soas toclose the circuit through the wires 18 19 and give the alarm.

I [Cl When this construction is used and it is desired to connectanumber of sprinklers to the same alarm mechanism, it is not necessarythat each sprinkler should be provided with a circuit-closing apparatus,asa single circuit-closing apparatus located in the supply-pipe leadingto a series of sprinklers will operate to give the alarm when any one orsome of the sprinklers are set in operation. It is also to be observedthat with either form of circuitclosing mechanism, instead of using twowires,

as 18 19, to form the electric circuit, the waterconneetions may, ifpreferred, be used in place of one of the wires; or, where two wires areused, as shown in the present case, one of the wires maybe connected tothe sprinkler or to the pipe 23, so that the circuit through said wireswill be formed through the sprinkler or the pipe, instead of directlythrough the two wires, as illustrated.

The operation of the apparatus may also be reversed, so the alarm willbe given by breaking instead of closing the electric circuit.

In conclusion, it is alsoto be remarked that the circuit-closingapparatus shown in Figs. 2 and 3, although especially designed for usein connection with devices of the class specified, may be used for manyother purposes when it is desired to have notice given of the flow ofwater or other fluid through a supply-pipe.

\Vhat is claimed is p 1. The combination, with an automaticfireextinguisher or sprinkler, of an electrical circuit which isconnected with an alarm mechanism and provided with a circuit-closingapparatus, and a movable part, as 17 or 25, connected to saidcircuit-closing apparatus and arranged to be acted upon and moved by thewater set in motion by the opening of the valve of the sprinkler, allsubstantially as described.

2. The combination, with an automatic fireextinguisher' or sprinkler, ofan electrical circuit connected with an alarm mechanism and providedwith a circuit closing or opening mechanism mounted upon a lever, as 11,and means by which the moving force of the water set in motion by thedisplacement of the valve of the sprinkler will actuate said lever so asto make operative said circuit and give an alarm, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination, with the watersupply pipe 23, of an electric circuitfor operating-an alarm mechanism, a gate, as 25, located in said .pipe,and a lever, as 21, connected to said gate and so arranged that the fiowof water through said pipe will actuate said lever to make op erativesaid circuit and give an alarm, sub stantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

CHAS. G. WORTHINGTOX.

\Vitnesses:

J osmn HEDDEN, S'rrLLimN H. STORY.

